I realized something at mass today: it’s Lent.  Sure, I got my ashes on Wednesday, but I didn’t really think about it that much.  But this is a holy season. 

I managed to make out this phrase during the gospel: quaranta giorni e quaranta notti.  Forty days and forty nights.  Jesus in the desert.  Is there a reason that I am in Rome for Lent this year?  Is it coincidence?